Japanese yen suffers

Elsewhere, we saw the Japanese yen struggle yesterday. The yen dropped against all of its 16 most traded peers, and over one percent against sterling following  a report showing that the Japanese economy had expanded at a rate higher than previously thought throughout the second quarter, triggering the Japanese stock market to gain momentum, closing at 2.5% up. The Australian dollar performed well, with news out of China showing exports having jumped significantly throughout August. This is good news for Australia, with China being its most important export destination. Off the back of the Australian dollar’s strongest weekly gains since December 2011 last week, the positive news dampens the probability of the Australian central bank cutting interest rates to new lows in coming months. The Canadian dollar also showed strength yesterday, hitting three-week highs against its US counterpart following better-than-forecast building permits figures. With a fairly quiet day on the cards data-wise today, markets will be beholden to other factors. Get in touch with your trader for live rates